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Automobile Accidents

Louisiana Car Accident Lawyer

You need an experienced personal injury lawyer protecting your interests when you have been injured in a car accident, trucking accident, motorcycle accident, or automobile accident. Our Louisiana car accident attorneys are available for immediate in-home, video conference, or telephone consults if you are unable to travel.

The O'Pry Law Firm has successfully handled hundreds of motor vehicle collision cases. In every accident situation, it is important to move quickly in order to protect your rights and preserve evidence that may be lost with the passage of time. If you have suffered an injury in a car accident, call the O'Pry Law Firm or click here to complete our simple questionnaire.

What to Do After a Car Accident

The actions you take after a car accident can have a big impact on your ability to recover physically and financially. It is extremely important to seek medical treatment after a car accident, even if you don't think anything's wrong. In the moments after a car accident, most people are disoriented and in a bit of shock. Many people don't realize that they have injuries from the auto accident until after the crash. The hospital or doctors that you see will document the injuries from your auto accident, which can then be used as evidence in a future legal case.

If you can, try to document evidence by taking pictures of the accident, site, and injuries at the scene. The factors that contributed to your accident can change overnight, such as when an overgrown bush that obstructs the view of a right-hand turn is trimmed or removed after the accident. The photos you take can help to illustrate what really happened and the extent of the damage. After seeking medical treatment, you can contact a Louisiana car accident lawyer to provide a review of your legal case.

Contact us today for a FREE legal consultation with a car accident lawyer serving Louisiana.

What Kind of Compensation Can I Expect from a Car Accident Claim?

The compensation that you can expect after a car accident depends on a number of factors, including how the accident happened, auto insurance coverage for both parties, and who was involved in the accident.

Louisiana state law requires drivers to carry a minimum amount of car insurance. Failure to do so can result in severe penalties that may include monetary fines and jail time. Under Louisiana's system, a driver who causes an accident may be liable for actual damages (expenses associated with property damage and medical costs), economic damages (lost wages and earning capacity), and emotional and physical pain and suffering.

The bare minimum car insurance requirement for Louisiana drivers is:

  • $15,000 bodily injury per person per accident
  • $30,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
  • $25,000 property damage liability

If the person responsible for the car accident doesn't have auto insurance, suing them only recovers compensation if they have assets they can use to pay the debt. However, an auto accident with a commercial vehicle can be a different case entirely, as the company has an obligation to not endanger other drivers.

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Do I Have a Car Accident Case?

Not all car accidents make strong legal cases. If you're partially at fault for the accident, it doesn't mean that you can't pursue legal action against the other party. The best way to know if you have a strong car accident case is to discuss the specifics of what happened with an experienced car accident lawyer. They can advise you about your case and the outcomes of similar cases to help you make a decision about what to do.  At the O'Pry Law Firm, we have evaluated thousands of car accident cases and can tell immediately whether you have a case or not.

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Our car accident attorneys are ready to help you

Depending on the specific facts of your case, you may be entitled to recover benefits for lost wages, medical bills, future medical bills, and pain and suffering.

According to recent statistics, over 6 million automobile collisions occur each year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that nearly 3 million people involved in automobile accidents suffer some form of injury. In addition, it is estimated that half a million trucking collisions occur every year, leading to approximately 5,000 fatalities.

The O'Pry Law Firm has succeeded in resolving many car accident cases that other law firms have generally found challenging to prove. Our highly experienced Louisiana car accident lawyers are here to fight for your rights as an injured person, and we will do everything to make sure that the liable party's insurance company pays you the maximum compensation for injuries incurred during an accident.

Auto Accident Attorneys Ready to Help in Your Time of Need

Our law firm represents people who are injured in auto accidents in Louisiana.  Injuries in auto collisions can be life-threatening and can vary from back and neck pain, broken bones, to even death. At the O'Pry Law Firm, our highly experienced auto accident lawyers will aggressively fight the insurance company to obtain the benefits you deserve.

Our Louisiana auto accident lawyers have handled thousands of accident cases. We pride ourselves in obtaining maximum settlements or compensation for clients who have been injured or lost their loved ones in an accident. Our attorneys will work closely with you to present a successful representation. At the O'Pry Law Firm, we guarantee that our accident lawyers will gather all the information needed to file a successful claim.  Additionally, while many law firms simply wait until you have finished with your medical treatment to try to resolve your case, we work with you every step of the way to assist you with your claim.  We help you to find and set up medical treatment with the best medical professionals in our area.  While you are free to choose any doctor that you would like to treat you for your injuries, we also have a list of highly qualified doctors that we can refer you to who specialize in treating car accident victims.  Additionally, we understand that our clients are often in need of financial assistance throughout the process due to having to miss work as a result of their injuries.  We work with our clients throughout the process and can provide advances if the client meets all of the criteria established by the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct with regard to financial assistance for clients.

The Legal Process

After having handled thousands of cases over the last two decades, it is our experience that about ninety percent of car accident cases settle without having to file suit against the insurance companies.  The O'Pry Law Firm prides itself on obtaining top dollar settlements for our clients due to the fact that we work extremely hard to gather evidence on the very first day that you contact our office.  Generally, you can expect the process to follow the following steps, no matter the specifics of your unique auto accident case.

Document

The first and often most crucial part of reaching a settlement or winning an auto accident case is documenting the scene of the crash and your injuries. This can be as simple as having someone at the accident site take detailed photos with a smartphone. The photos should try to convey the entire scene, including the orientation of the cars and the damage. While law enforcement and the insurance agency will try to put together a story that may or may not be in your best interest, these photos will demonstrate the facts.  We will work with you on the very first day to make sure we obtain all available photographs, whether that be from our clients, the police, or the insurance company to make sure all evidence is preserved and our clients' claims are fully documented.

Medical records also serve as an important way to document what happened in a car accident. The types of injuries sustained will help to create a picture of the timeline and the accident itself. For instance, certain abrasions across your chest and abdomen could serve as evidence that shows whether people wore seatbelts.

If you're able to call an auto accident lawyer from the accident scene, they can help to create documentation for your case. However, this isn't necessary if you're unable to do so. You can still pursue legal action from your car accident with the appropriate medical documentation since any documentation created by hospitals or other involved parties will be available. Your lawyer just has to get them from the source.

Investigate

The next step is to investigate what happened. Your lawyer will help you piece everything back together so that you can determine important pieces of information. These will include determining who is at fault, which is crucial in many accident cases. Lawyers often have teams of staff members that can collect information and piece accidents back together from start to finish.

Getting Medical Treatment for Your Injuries

The most important step to obtaining a favorable settlement is to make sure your injuries are properly documented and treated.  While some of our clients believe that they should keep their medical expenses to an absolute minimum, this is a misconception as most insurance companies use the amount of medical expenses to decide how much to settle a case for.  We remain involved with all aspects of our client's medical treatment and are constantly keeping a running tabulation of our client's medical expenses and doctor visits.  We have dedicated staff members whose only job is help to coordinate our client's medical treatment.  Not only does this benefit our clients in getting first-class medical care that they deserve to heal from their injuries, but it also helps us to obtain the best possible settlement at the conclusion of the case.

Negotiate

Before any case goes to trial, your lawyer will try to negotiate a settlement with the other parties involved. This is often the best outcome since it avoids the hassle of a trial while getting you the help and support that you need. It also speeds up the process considerably since waiting for a trial date can take months, if not longer in some places. A pre-trial settlement can get you the financial help that you need to pay for medical treatments and other rising costs sooner, keeping you out of financial trouble. If your lawyer cannot negotiate a settlement that you can agree to, the case goes to trial.

Trial

The trial is often the last step in the process. Your lawyer will take your case in front of a judge and argue that the other driver was at fault for the accident. If the other driver is found at fault for the accident, then he or she will likely be responsible for some type of compensation.

Going to trial has risks regardless of how strong your case is. The judge has a lot of say in how your case turns out. So, you should be prepared to lose, even if you have a good chance of winning. Most lawyers won't let a case go to trial if the chances of winning are almost impossible. Instead, the lawyer will rely on negotiations to try and reach a settlement.

Expected Compensation

Determining compensation is somewhat difficult since there are several forms of compensation available. For example, compensation for pain and suffering is somewhat subjective since it is hard to quantify someone's suffering. So, the judge could award a very low number or a very high one based on the case. Medical costs are somewhat easier to determine compensation for since there will be solid documentation for all of your medical bills. If you go to trial and win, you can expect to have your medical bills and car-related expenses compensated. In many cases, you could be awarded other forms of compensation based on the details of the case.

We are available for in-home consultations, video conferences, or telephone conferences if you cannot travel. If you've been injured, don't wait. Request a Free Case Evaluation today or call us at (337) 415-0007.

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CONTACT US TODAY

The O'Pry Law Firm is committed to answering your questions about Automobile Accidents, Truck Accidents, Workers' Compensation, Wrongful Death, and Motorcycle Accidents law issues in Lafayette, Louisiana.

We offer a free consultation and we’ll gladly discuss your case with you at your convenience. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

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